How RMG protest turned one man's 4hr trip to Dhaka into 19hr ordeal

It was 5:30pm on Saturday. 

Mahbubul Alam Shakib, a private job holder, had just started his journey from Mymensingh towards Dhaka, getting on a local bus. 

Shakib arrived at Bangladesh Agriculture University to bring back his aluminium trunk from campus. He had graduated almost a year ago but hadn't had the time to do so earlier.

He expected a four to five hour journey. But this time, it would take a draining 19 hours, owing to a blockade that began on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway. 

Speaking to The Business Standard, Shakib shared his experience of the nightmare commute, during which he also witnessed women, the elderly, and ambulances stuck amid the traffic disruption by garment workers.

He also mentioned not seeing any law enforcers to tackle the situation.

For the third consecutive day, hundreds of garment workers blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, demanding unpaid wages from TNZ Apparels, which operates six apparel factories in Gazipur.

For Shakib, his ordeal had started before he even stepped foot on the bus, hauling the 17kg trunk with him. Usually, there would be porters, but luck wasn't on Shakib's side on this day.  

'Locked counters'

Shakib reached the Mymensingh bus stand around 5pm, hoping to get a seat as soon as possible. 

Once there, he saw that the counter of the bus, known for its good service, was locked. 

He then learned that the bus service was off for the day. Shakib, however, did not know why at that point.

He then noticed that some buses were calling for passengers for Gazipur Chowrasta. Approaching one, he asked why buses were not going to Dhaka. 

"There's a huge tailback," the conductor replied.

As he was about to curse his luck, he heard a call for passengers for Dhaka. 

The bus was filling up quickly. Seeing the huge rush, the bus driver hiked the fare from Tk150 to Tk310.

Shakib also joined the queue, having no other option.

On the bus, the driver asked other buses why they weren't going to Dhaka.

That's when they came to know about the garment workers' protests.

"We will go to Dhaka as protests are a regular occurrence now," the driver told passengers.

He promised that, regardless of the delay, if even one passenger remained, the bus would go to the Mohakhali bus stand.

Long journey ahead

As a precaution in face of the long tailback, the bus made a stop at a petrol pump in Mawna, 19 kilometres away from Gazipur. 

There, the bus driver asked the passengers to freshen up and buy some dry food.

Shakib decided to take a nap, still expecting the delay to be 1-2 hours.

The first sign of the traffic began on the entry point to Gazipur. Shakib was rudely awakened by a loud noise. After a two long break, the bus creeped around a 100 metres and then came to a halt.

The bus reached Vogra Bypass, some 30km from the starting point, at 8am the next morning. 

Shakib was roused from his sleep by the call of the bus helper, who was telling him that the bus could not go to Dhaka.

Shakib saw that there was only one passenger with him. Others had decided to walk. 

This wasn't possible for Shakib. How would he lug a 17kg trunk all the way to Dhaka? 

With no option, Shakib and the other passenger disembarked on the Vogra Bypass.

'Helpless, alone'

Shakib stood at the bypass, unable to move much.

He stood waiting, helpless, observing others making the long walk home. 

He could also see the protesters, who were stopping vehicles. There were no police officers around either.

Shakib then requested a rickshaw driver to take him to the CNG station just under the bypass. The fare for the five-minute ride was Tk60.

Soon, Shakib found three more passengers waiting to go to Dhaka. Finally, one CNG-run autorickshaw driver agreed to take them to Tongi Bazar for Tk400.

Shakib recalls the vehicles being stopped and even attacked by protesters numerous times. At some points, they even made the vehicle turn around.

The driver then took a risk: he got on the footpath and then turned to the interior, taking narrow village roads, which were also full of long-haul buses at this point.

The autorickshaw reached Tongi Bazar at 10am. Here, Shakib got off with his trunk and sat in a small tea stall, where he had his breakfast – a small piece of cake and a cup of tea.

The other three passengers with him started to walk towards Uttara as they were carrying lighter bags.

The final stretch

From Tongi Bazar, Shakib began to look for a mode of transport to Abdullahpur, where he could get a town bus service.

Such a vehicle, however, wasn't easy to find. 

As far as he could see, Shakib observed empty, stationary vehicles. The sidewalks were full of people sitting and waiting, their luggage lying beside them. 

Ambulances were also stuck in the gridlock. 

After waiting a while, Shakib found a rickshaw puller willing to take him to Abdullahpur. 

This ride, under the now scorching sun, took another hour.

At one point, Shakib got off the rickshaw, leaving his belongings, to take shade under a tree. He bought a bottle of water and shared it with the rickshaw puller. 

It took a few more hours to cross the last point of the protest. 

Shakib then found an empty Balaka bus. He raised his hand to signal to the bus to take him to Dhaka.

Thankfully, the bus stopped, but the fares were hiked again – from Tk60 to Tk100 now.

Finally, Shakib sat on the bus, relief washing over him. He reached Moghbazar at 1pm on Sunday, ending his 19 hour journey.